According to a recent Mzinga and Babson survey, 84% of professionals worldwide do not currently measure the ROI of their social media efforts. Pretty shocking considering today’s economic environment and the enormous pressures placed on marketers to deliver more with less. However, as is the case with any new medium, many marketers are experimenting with social media and are still, for the most part, trying to figure out how social media fits into their overall marketing efforts. As a result, measurement is often overlooked.

Therefore, when a company creates a unique and interesting program and takes the time to measure its success, it is important to share the inside scope so we can all learn. One interesting example is what Mint.com recently did by combining the power of email marketing with social media.

Launched in 2007, Mint.com has quickly become America’s No. 1 online personal finance service. Mint’s intelligent and easy-to-use approach to money management has quickly attracted more than 1.5 million users to date. Given its online audience and technologically savvy user base, Mint.com recently turned to the power of email marketing and socialized it to further drive new customer acquisition.

So what did they do? Working with StrongMail (disclosure – I currently sit on the board of directors at StrongMail) Mint.com took the time to understand user motivations and tested a series of incentives to encourage existing email subscribers to “invite” others within their social network (email, facebook, twitter, etc.) to join Mint.com. The winning campaign – one that not only encourage the most sharing but drove the most conversions -- appealed to Mint.com’s existing users by providing them “insider status” through access to beta features and products prior to their roll-out to general users. In the end, the campaign drove one new user/customer for every 2.6 invite clicks – impressive. While the testing of various offers was insightful, the ability to drive new users/customers and to tag existing users as “influencers” (based on their sharing activity, conversion rate and desire for insider knowledge) was even more impressive.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Mint.com case study check out my column or you can register for the upcoming DMA/PMN Social Media Spotlight event where StrongMail will be presented the case study in-depth. Details about the event can be found on our website. Space is limited so act now.

‘Til Next Time

He’s been called “the most famous customer service representative in the U.S. and possibly the world” by BusinessWeek and now he is sharing his Twitter secrets with PMN members. As Director of Digital Care at Comcast, Frank has been credited with reshaping Comcast’s customer service with a brilliant effort on Twitter that focused on listening to customers and then actively participating with them. So what are those secrets to his success? Here are the top 10 points that Frank made on the recent PMN webinar.

1. Don’t be afraid to try new thing – be open to the possibilities of the social web
2. Be everywhere your customers are
3. Be, find or encourage an evangelist in your organization
4. Invest in listening and ultimately participating with customers
5. Be honest, transparent and responsive – adopt a “Make it Right” mentality in the customer service department
6. It takes a village. Be a team player and work with your internal teams. You may even want to consider creating a cross-functional team like Comcast did.
7. Find an executive sponsor/advocate – support is critical, particularly if you need to change the culture
8. Measure success 
9. Communicate success
10. Always be learning and sharing

Some great advice – thank you Frank. To hear a replay of the webinar, visit the membership section of the PMN website. Stay tuned for some more great speakers – up next how Dell made millions on Twitter…just confirming the details!

'Til Next Time

So no doubt you’ve heard about the enormous popularity of JetBlue’s $599 All You Can Jet Pass announced last month. As was expected, seats sold fast – so much so that JetBlue had to end the program earlier than anticipated! Mission accomplished, right? Well maybe - in the old world that is - but not today. You see the All You Can Jet Program is just getting started. Ever since the pass was announced, eager travelers have been busy at work planning routes (traffic to the JetBlue route map has increased over 700% since the announcement), arranging for time off to travel like mad, and connecting with other members of their elite community of lucky travelers. A simple promotion to move seats has now become a social movement whether JetBlue planned it to be or not.

So what exactly happened? Well, JetBlue tapped into a passion shared by millions – Travel, with an innovative program that inspired thousands of lucky participants enough to establish whole new communities. In fact, it such a movement that even travel agents are getting involved. According to Jaunted.com, new micro-social communities and offerings have been quickly established around the program including blogs – Where We Jet and Twelve Hours in a City, dedicated twitter accounts like @599club to share experiences, and even special travel packages built exclusively around JetBlue destinations and All You Can Jet travelers. Amazing!

The big lesson learned here is that great marketing is great marketing and when you can tap into a communities’ needs and passions, the possibilities are limitless. For those of you trying to figure out your social media strategy – spend less time thinking about the medium and more time thinking about the message and the potential that message has to start a dialog or unite a community. Once you nail that, you can think about building an integrated marketing and communication program that helps you spread the word – and if you are lucky, like JetBlue, your customers may even do that for you.

‘Til Next Time

Amex is turning the spotlight on small business and they’re using social media to do it. At nearly 30 million strong, small businesses are the heart of the U.S. economy and will play a vital role in driving our economic recovery. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that American Express, in partnership with NBC, is making a move to position itself as the card of choice for new and existing small businesses ready to spend. With it’s new campaign, Shine A Light, Amex is inviting the public to nominate a small business that “inspires them.” Written nominations will be voted on by the general public and the winning small business will receive a $100,000 in grant and marketing support from American Express. In addition, the individuals who nominated the three small business finalists will each receive a $3,000 American Express Gift Card.

So what’s so great about American Express’ Shine A Light program? First and foremost it is a very positive and inspirational program. At a time when unemployment is reaching 10%, the American Express program and its ads featuring restaurateur Tom Colicchio reminds us all that the American Dream is still very much alive – that is if we work hard and want it bad enough. For the many millions of the unemployed struggling to find their way or contemplating their next move as an entrepreneur this is an important message and option.

Next, I think perhaps most importantly, it shines a light on the importance of building a solid foundation and business strategy like so many small businesses in our own neighborhoods do so well. While the American Express program leverages new marketing tactics like social media to help spread the word and increase nominations, the success of many of these business are built on the marketing basics we should never forget. Basics like offering great products at a great price with exceptional service – something Joe’s deli or your local coffee shop may have perfected. In fact many of these operations have achieved a level of CRM that would make some of the world’s largest brands turn green with envy – they not only know their customers first name, but they know their favorite products and what makes them tick. Take my local butcher, Town Meats. What we love so much about Rich, Andy or Nick at Town Meats is that they sometimes know us better then we know ourselves – our favorites, the cuts we prefer, how much we order and even the kinds of things we would probably like if we gave it a try (that’s up-selling at its best). And if that’s not enough... heck they will even deliver - customer service is not dead. The point here is that small business is not only the key to our economic recovery, but most successful small businesses also hold the key to marketing success. In fact, they remind us that before we jump on the latest hottest trends -- be it social media or whatever is next -- it critical to get the basics right: clean your database, understand your customers, build great products and service the hell out of them. Once you do that, you’ll be ready to leverage the power of social media to shine a light. For more information or to nominate a small business (like Town Meats) near you, visit the Shine A Light website.

‘Til Next Time.

After 3 years and 50,000 entries Netflix is ready to announce the winner of its movie recommendation challenge – or are they? While the contest ended on Sunday, two teams are reportedly in a dead heat for the million dollar prize. In fact, Netflix has delayed officially announcing the winner to validate the results – yes it was that close between the top 2 teams (BellKor's Pragmatic Chaos, The Ensemble). So what was the challenge and -- more importantly -- the key lessons learned? The challenge was to improve Netflix’s movie recommendation engine by 10% - a task requiring deep expertise in predictive modeling and statistical scoring, which makes the 50,000 entries all the more impressive. However, one of the more interesting phenomena’s that resulted was the participation and collaboration among team members and eventually across teams in the later stage of the contest. Once the benchmark of 10% was passed, it set off a 30 day race that allowed other teams some time to surpass it. What actually occurred was fascinating – teams and rivals merged, consortiums were built and passions were ignited. So much so that one team, started their own company to develop recommendation systems for e-commerce players.

So what was THE key lesson learned?

• Participation & collaboration and teamwork leads to innovation and invention: When you engage a community great things can happen. There are countless examples of communities generating great ideas – My Starbucks Idea, Dell’s IdeaStorm and others. However, when you get the community to collaborate and you build teams comprised of different yet complementary skills sets truly amazing things can happen. This is why the Netflix participatory marketing program will be one that will be studied for many years to come. Not only did Netflix receive some great ideas on how to solve the problem, but they got a diverse group of people from around the global to focus on building a solution that they could not otherwise buy or build themselves.

For me the Netflix program reminds me a little bit of what 3M is so famous for – that is their ability to assemble small teams to collaborate and innovate new products. But while 3M pulls its talent from within the company, Netflix tapped into the social web to reach and engage the best minds in the world to solve their problem – amazing. So the next time your company faces what seems like an insurmountable challenge – ask yourself how would the “community” solve this?

‘Till Next Time

Using one of its most unique approaches to date, 1-800-Flowers is setting its sights on “influencers” - mommy bloggers that is - to encourage participation and spur sales during this Mother’s Day. The outreach program which started this month is targeting approximately 24 “mommy bloggers” who according to a recent Brandweek article will fill eight archetypes of motherhood. Chosen bloggers will receive a bouquet of flowers and a discount code to share with their readers. Additionally, the company will recognize select bloggers through its own blog with “floral lifestyle expert” Julie Mulligan across various categories (Do-It-Yourself Mom, On-The-Go Mom, Pet-Lover Mom, etc.). The lucky few selected will also attend a cocktail party in their honor with 1-800-Flowers CEO John McCann and will be encouraged to write posts about the recognition. To launch the program, 1-800-Flowers will support the effort across other social media and interactive outlets including facebook, their twitter account and a dedicated microsite (www.spotamom.com).  Visitors are also being encouraged to submit their own nominations for mothers that deserve some recognition at www.spotlightamom.com. While the campaign does not include social media advertising the program will lead up to an extensive campaign that will include TV, print and online starting April 20th. Ads will feature CEO Jim McCann giving flowers to moms in various everyday locations.

For those of you looking to close the loop and measure the effectiveness of your social media efforts, 1-800-Flowers has done a lot right here. First, the use of unique discount codes will allow them to track redemptions. Additionally, traffic to their microsites www.spotamom.com, along with submitted entries to www.spotlightamom.com, will be a great barometer of the program’s success.

So the question of the week is…Is 1-800-Flowers crossing the line? The difference may be in the details -- i.e. disclosure. However, is giving gifts and schmoozing with mommy bloggers to influence blog editorial pushing the boundaries? Or just great relationship building? Are bloggers like trusted reporters or not? And should they be held to a similar standard? Are we in danger of damaging “trust” in social media outlets? Clever or careless? We’d love to hear your thoughts. In the meantime, we are happy to see the Blog council has a free Disclosure best practices toolkit – you can download it here. Trust is a terrible thing to waste, so think it through and cover your bases before launching a similar effort.

‘Til next time.

In a new campaign called “What do you play for?” Nike calls on teens to share their sports stories. The effort includes a collaboration among Nike, social network Youth Noise and social media firm Brickfish. Participants are encouraged to upload photos of them playing the sport of their choice and to share their individual stories. Visitors to Youth Noise then vote on their favorite photos. Prizes will be awarded for the Best Photo and Most Viral which will be selected by Youth Noise from among the 250 highest scoring entries. Winners will receive $500 cash or scholarship. In addition, five randomly selected Sign-Up Sweepstakes winners will each receive $100 cash or scholarship.

The campaign is part of Nike’s focused social media strategy to get teens to participate with its brand through online communities that encourage them to share their personal sports stories and the impact sports has had on their lives or the lives of others. According to Youth Noise,

“Whether a young person dances to build his or her self-esteem and stay healthy, runs marathons to benefit local charities or teaches soccer to young boys in Uganda, we want to hear the story.”

Since the launch earlier this month, the site has received over 230,000 page views, 869 entries, 1,560 reviews and 7,366 votes.  Visitors can sort entries by most popular, most viewed, most viral, recently added and highest ranking. A review of the highest ranking stories shows the diversity of real life stories --many of which are not only inspiring, but ones that millions of us can relate to.

“I dance for the empowerment of all women”

“Freestyling for fitness and fun! Swimming helped bring great benefits to my child, who had bilateral-coordination disorder.”

“Heart of a Champion: When I was 10 years old I was injured in an ATV accident that left me paralyzed from the waist down. I was introduced to the world of disabled sports, primarily water-skiing…I have never loved something so much in my life. I plan to fulfill my dream of competing at the World Competition doing what I love the most.”

“I run to stay sane, to escape from all my problems and stresses”

Nike originally built its brand showcasing the talents of unattainable superheroes like Michael Jordan. This latest effort demonstrates the company's evolution by now leveraging the power and participation of their customer base to inspire others. For marketers struggling to figure out how to connect with their customers and prospects, the Nike example demonstrates some of the key questions you need ask yourselves: How does our product or service impact the lives of our customers? How can we get those consumers to be active with our brand in the most powerful and engaging way? The “What do you play for?” sweepstakes ends May 20th.

It should come as no surprise that Gen Y’s are great consumers of social media and content. In fact, according to our latest research nearly 90% of Gen Y’s reported they watch videos, 68% reported they read blogs/vlogs/forums and 65% reported reading customer ratings/reviews. At 70 million plus strong, Gen Y represents a marketing tsunami as these consumers not only become great consumers of social media but creators and powerful influencers that will fundamentally change the way people buy and how we as marketers market.

No doubt, it’s a critical time for marketers as we learn the skills necessary to attract consumers, engage them in conversations and encourage them to participate with our brand(s). Advertising in its pure “push” sense is being questioned, as it should be, due to its diminishing impact. Marketing attention is turning as we see the emergence and growth of new powerful brands, like Zappos who built a brand on great products, exceptional service and powerful word of mouth. It is an evolving marketplace for sure and it highlighted most effectively in Steve Rubel’s recent interview with Jeff Jarvis, author of What Would Google Do? - “In an age when competition and pricing are opened up online and when your product is your ad, you need to spend your first dollar on the quality of your product or service. If you're Zappos, you spend the next dollar on customer service and call that marketing. If the next dollar goes to advertising, there has to be a reason -- and if the product is good enough, that reason may fade away.”

The customer brand dynamic is changing and that will become increasingly dramatic as Gen Y’s purchasing power continues to grow. To survive and thrive, CMOs will have to figure out what strategies and tactics to deploy to encourage participation and loyalty. One of those strategies will be centered around how we manage customer interactions and support customer service. That’s why we invited social media guru Steve Rubel to lead the PMN Webinar entitled “The New Rules Of Customer Service – Participate Or Perish”. In this free Webinar, Steve will address the strategies and tactics to increase customer service satisfaction using social media and the tips, tactics and tools to mange, track and monitor your customer interactions. There are few topics as important as this one, as brands attempt to reinvent their marketing in order to gain their fair share of what will become the biggest wave of consumer purchasing power and influence this country and the world have ever seen. Are you ready? Join us and Steve in June for the Webinar and stay tuned as the PMN leads the way with new research, more informative webinars and new live discussions with the folks that really matter…your future power purchasers and influences - Gen Y. To register for Steve’s webinar click here.

Part two of our exclusive research is out and the results confirm what a lot of us in email have felt for a long time – email is in desperate need of an overhaul. Look, email has changed very little over the last 15 years, despite the evolution of the Internet into a social gathering place. In fact, what little innovation there has been over the last 8 years has been protectionist in nature in order to save the medium from spam. At the same time, the shifting online paradigm and rise of social networks are challenging email for the attention of the online consumer. In fact, according to a recent study by Nielsen, "member communities" now exceed email participation by 67 percent to 65 percent – and that difference is even more pronounced with Gen Y users. So we asked our Gen Y panel about email and the social internet and here is what they had to say:

- Marketing email is not relevant according to Gen Y consumers – only 28 percent of those surveyed believe the email they get from companies is relevant

- Gen Y consumers are eager to see “innovative services” that allow them to better control, organization and manage email coming from brands. Specifically, 
    o 78 percent would like their email client to automatically categorize and delete expired promotional messages 
    o 62 percent would like to communicate directly with retailers about their favorite products in exchange for getting the best prices from them 
    o 44 percent say they’d subscribe to an email service that collected and summarized multiple offers of interest to them     
    o 32 percent say they’d share promotional email offers with members inside a social network and open emails from others

- More than half of Gen Y consumers (51 percent) say they’d join a separate social network dedicated to managing brand interactions

It seems to me Gen Y is not asking a lot from email, especially in today’s semantically intelligent digital world – or are they? Let us know what you think.

PMN members interested in getting a copy of the complete survey can email info@thepmn.org.

I've been working from home recently and have never been more annoyed.  You see, for the past several days I have been the recipient of numerous phone calls.  Unfortunately the calls were not from anyone I was interested in speaking to as few people have my home number and I am unlisted.  No, the calls were from a new group of friends - Politicians.  Yes, it was bound to happen.  As you may recall, political solicitations are exempt from the Do Not Call registry, since they are not included in its definition of "Telemarketing".  Really?  What is it called when you are asking me for my vote?  What it is - is annoying and a double standard.  Can Caroline count on your vote - maybe not now that you woke up my 3 year old.  Michael, Senator Hannon has been working hard for you - really?  Wait is this a recording?  Folks if there is no better example of push, not even permission marketing gone wrong I don't know what is.

It is time politicians re-think their approaches and, like the example set by the Obama campaign, wake up to the fact that great marketing is about participation.  Not to say that the Obama campaign has been perfect, but the overall success signals a new direction in marketing.  Yes we are in the midst of a paradigm shift.  The rise of the "semantic" and "social internet" is ushering in a new era in marketing defined by consumer participation and control.  I call this new era "Participatory Marketing".  Participatory Marketing is about marketing with your customers or in this case voters, not at them.  It is about getting people actively involved in promoting your brand.  It is about engaging your customers to help plot the future of your brand or product.  As I look at all the candidates running - only one comes close to exemplifying these qualities - the campaign that Barack Obama has run.  Politics aside you  have to admire the brilliance.  It is, on many fronts, Participatory Marketing at its finest.  A local grassroots effort by which politics has never seen before, record event turn out filled with active and passionate supporters whose presence can be seen and heard on facebook, YouTube and MySpace to name a few, text and email updates, and a record $600 million dollars raised for the cause from millions. 

Folks this is the power of Participatory Marketing supported by social media and the future of politics and great marketing as we know it.  This has been a historic campaign indeed and not just for the obvious reasons, but for what it has shown us about how marketing must change.  Congratulations to President elect Obama and congratulations to his team who helped show the world that marketing, creativity, innovation and the williness to change can teach us many lessons.  

Until Next Time